Wireless Innovation Forum Announces Call for Participation in Three New Projects

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Wireless Innovation Forum (www.WirelessInnovation.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to driving the future of radio communications and systems worldwide, announced today the initiation of three new projects approved by its membership. Through these projects – Business Models for Open Source Air Interfaces, Modeling Language for Mobility, and Test Guidelines for TV Whitespace – members of the Forum will collaborate to explore key issues in the advanced wireless market and, where appropriate, develop practical solutions for use by the broader industry:

“Through these projects, organizations throughout the wireless value chain will be able to better address emerging communications requirements, enabling an improved performance of deliverables, reduced total life cost of ownership, and the responsive and rapid deployment of standardized families of products, technologies, and services.”

Business Models for Open Source Air Interfaces – This project is being initiated to support wireless baseband technology providers, handset manufacturers, automobile equipment manufacturers, telecommunication equipment manufacturers (TEMs), software services companies, and cellular network operators who are looking for solutions that reduce costs and time to market in supporting new wireless standards or who wish to foster a competitive baseband signal processing environment. To address these needs, the project will provide a report analyzing various open source business models for air interface software stacks including how much of the stack needs to be implemented to make the business model viable, what technologies or programming languages the air interfaces should be made available in, and the intellectual property, patent and legal issues impacting each business model.

Modeling Language for Mobility – This project is being initiated to support the developers of next generation communication systems who need flexible and efficient communication protocols operating between advanced radio systems to support next generation networking features that include vertical and horizontal mobility, spectrum awareness, dynamic spectrum adaption, waveform optimization, feature exchange, and advanced networking standards. The project will publish use cases, interfaces, protocols, corresponding signaling plans, requirements and technical analysis of the information exchanges that enable these next generation features, and will standardize terminology for flexible communications systems supporting multiple applications over disparate radio networks.

Test Guidelines and Requirements for Television Band Devices (TVBDs) – This project is being initiated to support equipment designers and manufacturers, test and measurement equipment vendors, test and evaluation service providers, certification authorities, spectrum stakeholders, wireless service providers and end users who will be impacted by software defined and cognitive radio (SDR/CR) technology developments such as dynamic waveform activation, opportunistic scheduling, dynamic spectrum access, secondary and unlicensed spectrum access (e.g., by TVBDs) and policy based operation, which are features not implemented in traditional radio systems. The output of the project will be a report that will identify unique test challenges created by SDR/CR radio system technology used for TVBDs and will provide a basis for test and certification. The report will include inputs from a broad base of the potential stakeholders and balance their needs in the final output to define general test requirements that are unique to TV Band Devices and TVBD coexistence mechanisms, such as spectrum sensing and TV band databases, but are independent of the air interface used by the TV Band Device. The report will act as a baseline for certifying general conformance with, or in anticipation of, specific U.S. and non-U.S. regulatory requirements.

“Projects such as these illustrate the continuing value the Forum brings to its members in facilitating collaboration between organizations driving technology innovation in commercial, civil and defense communications around the world," said Bruce Oberlies, Senior Director of Advanced Technology in Motorola's Enterprise Mobility Solutions business and Chair of the Wireless Innovation Forum. "Through these projects, organizations throughout the wireless value chain will be able to better address emerging communications requirements, enabling an improved performance of deliverables, reduced total life cost of ownership, and the responsive and rapid deployment of standardized families of products, technologies, and services.”

In support of these new projects, the Wireless Innovation Forum is extending an open invitation to representatives from stakeholders in the advanced wireless community worldwide to participate in these projects. Individuals interested in participating should contact the Forum’s CEO, Lee Pucker, for additional information.

The official kickoff of these projects will occur at the 65th Working Meeting of the Forum, to be held March 8^th to 11^th, 2010, in San Diego, California. This meeting will include working sessions advancing the Forum’s 2010 operations plan in support of the commercial, public safety, satellite communications, and international tactical radio communities, as well as working meetings for the IEEE Standards Association SCC41. This meeting is sponsored by and colocated with the JTRS Science and Technology Forum (JSTeF), and members are encouraged to move freely between the events.

About the Wireless Innovation Forum

Established in 1996, The Wireless Innovation Forum (SDR Forum Version 2.0) is a non-profit mutual benefit corporation dedicated to driving technology innovation in commercial, civil, and defense communications worldwide. Members bring a broad base of experience in Software Defined Radio (SDR), Cognitive Radio (CR) and Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) technologies in diverse markets and at all levels of the wireless value chain to address emerging wireless communications requirements. To learn more about The Wireless Innovation Forum, its meetings and membership benefits, visit www.WirelessInnovation.org.